Tag: energy

The world’s largest battery has gone into operation in Australia. American technology giant Tesla built the 100-megawattlithium-ionbattery for South Australia’s state government.

The battery was connected to the power grid only 2 months after Tesla and the Southern Australian government signed a contract. Tesla boss Elon Musk said that he could deliver the battery and make it operational within one hundred days. Tesla made the deadline easily.

According to the company, the battery can provide electricity for over 30,000 homes for an hour in case of an electricity blackout. It is also intended to help supply more energy during peak times.

The battery packs, about the size of a football field, are connected to a nearby wind farm, 120 kilometres north of Adelaide. They went into operation at the beginning of the Australian summer, when more energy is needed for air conditioning.

While many regions in Australia still rely on fossil fuels as their main energy source, South Australia gets a lot of its energy from renewable sources, especiallysolar and wind power. However, backup energy is important for a region that has recentlyexperiencedsevere storms. The entire state witnessed a blackout in September 2016. 1.6 million people were left without electricity.

Tesla battery chargers in Adelaide Australia – Image: Timeshift9

Words

according to = as said by …

air conditioning = system that makes the air in a room cooler and drier

battery pack = several batteries connected to each other

blackout = when everything goes dark because there is no electricity

connect = link to

contract = official agreement between two parties

deadline = date or time by which you have to have something finished

deliver = to bring a product to a certain place

electricity = power that is carried in wires and cables and is used for heating, lighting and to make machines work

entire = whole

especially = above all

experience = see, witness

fossil fuels = energy that is produced by dead plants and animals over millions of years; for example coal, oil and gas

however = but

intend = here: designed to work as …

lithium-ion battery = very powerful battery that can be used over and over again; it is used in laptops, cellphones, iPods etc..

A new study of satellite images has revealed that our planet is getting brighter and brighter during the night. More and more artificial lighting may cause harm not only to humans and animals but whole ecosystems.

The study has found out that the quantity of light has increased by 2.2 % per year over the last decade. Much of that increase comes from the Middle East and Asia, while in Europe and the USA brightness has stayed about the same. Only a few countries have actually seen a decrease in the amount of light. Among those are Syria and Yemen.

Artificial light on earth is growing because more and more towns and other settlements are being created in places that were once farmland, forests or wilderness. In addition, China and other booming economies are building whole cities in sparsely populated areas.

Even though large areas of land surfaceremain dark, there are places on earth where lights never go out, for example, shopping malls, dining districts or international airports.

The technology of artificial lighting is also changing. More and more LED lights are replacing older light bulbs. They are more energy-efficient and emit a brighter bluish-white light. As they are becoming cheaper people tend to buy more.

Doctors warn that too much artificial light can bear health risks. It can lead to shorter periods of sleep, insomnia and changes in a person’s biorhythm.

Scientists have claimed that increased light have an effect on animal habitats. More light near beaches may affect the turtle population that comes there to lay their eggs. Migrating birds that rely on stars to navigate can be influenced by light and travel off course.

Satellite image of the United States at night

Words

actually = in fact, really

affect = influence, change

artificial light = light that is produced by people or machines, not naturally by the sun

bear = have

biorhythm = changes in the way and speed that your body reacts at certain times

booming economy = country where business is growing very strongly

brightness = being bright

cause harm = be a danger

claim = to say that something is true, even if you cannot prove it

decade = ten years

decrease = to go down

effect = change

emit = send out

energy -efficient = here: an object that produces more light and uses less energy

even though = while

habitat = natural home of a plant or animal

image = picture

in addition = also

increase = to go up

influence = here: to change the way you travel

insomnia = not able to sleep

migrate = to travel regularly to other parts fo the world

navigate = to find out which way you need to go when you travel from one place to another

off course = away from the route you would normally take

quantity = how much of something

rely = depend on, need

remain = stay

replace = to use instead of something else

settlement = group of houses or buildings where people live, especially in areas where nobody has lived before

shopping mall = large area with a lot of shops

sparsely = here: with few people

study = piece of work that is done to find out more about a special subject

surface = the top layer of an object

technology = here: how something is done or produced

tend = here: will probably happen

wilderness = large area of land that has never been developed or farmed

Sidewalk Labs, a Google company, has announced plans to build a futuristic city in Toronto, Canada. The new urban area, called Sidewalk Toronto, aims at turning the waterfront of Lake Ontario into a playground for city developmentand a testing site for new technologies.

The project wants to make cities cheaper, healthier and even more exciting to live in . The new city will offer its residents ultra-fast WiFi connections, lanes for self-driving cars and sustainableenergy sources. Thousands of sensors will report pollution and noise levels, as well as monitor traffic and levels of carbon monoxide.

Planners of Sidewalk Toronto want to find new solutions for overpopulation, waste management , traffic , pollution and other urban problems. Several companies have said that they will make their services available to the new city.

Planners estimate that the project will cost around 1 billion dollars. However, it will also offer tens of thousands of people a place to live, work and have fun. Eventually, similar projects may spread to other parts of the world, helping to build smarter and greener cities.

Google has also announced that it plans to move its Canadian headquarters to Sidewalk Toronto.

Skyline of Toronto from Lake Ontario – Image: George Socka

Words

aim = wants to , plans to

announce = to officially say something in public

available = here: something that people can use

carbon monoxide = poisonous gas that produces carbon when it is burned

development = to become bigger, more modern and advanced

estimate = think about how much something will cost

eventually = as time goes on, slowly

futuristic = something that looks unusual and very modern

headquarters = the main building or offices used by a large company

however = but

lane = one of two or many areas on the road that keeps cars apart

monitor = watch, observe

overpopulation = too many people live on a small area of land

resident = here: a person who lives in a city

services = work or help that a company gives you

similar = almost the same

solution = way of dealing with a problem

spread = move to another place

sustainable = something that can be used without causing danger to the environment or nature

urban = about a city

waste management = way of getting rid of unwanted materials and dirty water

waterfront = part of a city or town that is next to the sea or lake

WiFi connection = connecting computers and other machines to the Internet by using radio signals

Winds and storms in the Atlantic are so strong that wind-powered turbines in the Atlantic Ocean could provide the whole world with clean energy. Energy experts now claim that ocean wind farms can produce three to five times more energy than wind turbines on land. Over water wind speeds are up to 70% higher.

Winds on land create friction because of mountains and buildings. They slow down as they move inwards . In addition, turbines are built closer together, which takes some of the wind speed away .

Winds are especially strong across the northern Atlantic Ocean because of differences in water temperature. When the warm Gulf Stream moves up the North Americancoast it mixes with cold water in the northern Atlantic. This leads to higher storm activity and more winds, especially during the winter months.

Norway’s energy company Statoil has been operating floating wind turbines in the shallow North Sea for over a decade. These are connected via cable to the ocean floor. In order to make them work in the deep sea , however, they must be attached to vertical poles that have massiveweights in the water.

One of the biggest problems that face ocean wind farms is transporting energy from the deep sea to land. Energy companies , like Statoil, are looking for high-wind areas that are closer to shore.

While wind farms on land are becoming more and more common, production costs of running them are becoming lower. In the near future wind energy is expected to become one of the cheapest alternative energy sources .

Europe is the number one wind energy producer at the moment. Every year, about 12 gigawatts of energy are produced by wind power, whereas in America green energy from wind is still in its infancy. If produced more effectively, the solution to the world’s energy problems may lie in ocean wind farms.